Frequently Asked Questions

• As part of the rig test fee, lunch will be provided. Please inform the test team of any special dietary requirements for any team personnel on your booking form.
• There are free tea and coffee making facilities in the rig control room as well as a water dispenser.
• We do not normally take a lunch break as we continue to work through the day, however a lunch break may be requested.

Breckland Lodge, London Road, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1AY
Tel: 01953 455202

Travelodge, Bridge Street, Thetford, IP24 3AF, (sat nav postcode: IP24 3AE)
Tel: 08715 591889

No. Commonly the Multimatic rig is referred to as the ‘4-post rig’ as the rig consists of four wheel actuators but in essence the rig is a ‘6-post rig’ as there are two additional pneumatic actuators often referred to as ‘aero-loaders’ that can be used to replicate vertical downforce loads at the front and rear of the vehicle if required.

Our standard test procedure covers swept sine inputs from 1-40 Hz including Heave and Pitch tests alongside Warp, Roll and Kerb Strike tests.

Each run is approximately 30 seconds in duration.

No. The rig is designed as an optimisation tool based on a vehicle's response to vertical inputs and we do not use track replay data as part of this evaluation.

• We run a ‘kerb-strike’ procedure, which we can tailor to a specific speed providing we know the wheelbase of the vehicle. 
• Please note this will not exactly replicate a kerb strike event on circuit as the test is intended to determine the difference between static and dynamic roll stiffness.

The rig is not designed to measure inertia or 3-axis CoG although we are able to measure CoG longitudinally.

• For vehicles that produce significant downforce loads we would always work with the aero-loaders connected such as Single Seater/Formula Cars, LMP/DPi Sports Prototypes and some GT cars (GTE, DTM etc). 
• We would not usually connect the aero-loaders to road cars, touring cars and production based GT cars.
• In some cases it is beneficial to perform some tests on high downforce cars without the aero loaders connected, which can be discussed with the rig test engineer.

We recommend you focus on optimising the car around the aero load for one particular vehicle speed. We can optimise for two different aero levels but will require more time to do this, which may require booking a further day of testing.

• You will need to provide some form of bracket or mounting points that allow us to connect a steel cable from the front aero-loader to the nose of the car. 
• In most cases there is no special attachment point required for the rear of the car provided there is some form of hard point on the gearbox casing or rear crash structure.

• It is common for teams to bring tyre warmers to the rig to heat the tyres to the temperature experienced on track with their target running pressure. We perform a heave run to determine the hot tyres vertical stiffness for this given running pressure. From this we can bleed the tyre pressures down on cold tyres to replicate the hot tyres vertical stiffness.
• We are able to test on cold tyres as normally the tyres ratio between cold and hot are the same percentage front and rear.

• Yes. Please be aware that bump rubber tuning differs between individuals on how they are utilised. Our preferred method is to tune as an end of straight braking condition to prevent large compression events, but we are able to cater for most individual needs.
• We are also able to test bump engagement gaps at different aero loads to determine vehicle behaviour.

• We are able to perform damper set-up work on behalf of customers whose vehicle uses Multimatic DSSV dampers and who are using the multi-post rig. Please inquire as to whether this service is required when booking the rig.
• Please bear in mind that some set-up work can take a significant amount of time to complete. Therefore, we suggest you bring a minimum of two car sets of dampers so that testing can continue whilst one set is being re-tuned.

• Yes. We allow teams to bring anyone necessary to perform set-up changes for the testing work they intend to perform including damper technicians from any of the manufacturers.
• You must ensure that the technician brings all the relevant tools and equipment (including a damper dynamometer) they will require for re-valving your dampers. Most dampers require special tooling unique to each manufacturer and therefore Multimatic will not be able to provide any equipment.
• Due to the nature of the business conducted at Multimatic facilities and the Multimatic Vehicle Dynamics Centre, third party damper technicians will need to sign-in on arrival and have the lenses of any camera enabled devices covered. Their movements will be restricted to the vehicle dynamics centre and test rig rooms only.

• Usually one day is suitable for most race teams to perform static and aero optimisation.
• We aim to have the rig operational between 8am to 5pm (this time slot includes installation and instrumentation of the car) and to conduct as many test runs as is possible during this time. 
• The number of test runs we can perform in a single day is heavily dependent on the time taken to perform vehicle set-up changes i.e. re-valving, damper hardware etc.
• If you intend to perform significant testing work, we recommend discussing your requirements with our rig engineers who can advise you as to the number of days that would suit your intended programme.

• The rig will be open from 8am. 
• The car will be installed on the rig on the morning of the test following a rig calibration run. 
• The vehicle will then be instrumented and a further calibration run conducted. 
• We will start the day with a test run on your baseline set-up. Having achieved a baseline, the rig engineers will then produce a linear model to the acquired data to allow us to optimise the vehicle in the shortest possible time frame.
• The suggested set-up changes and running order of the tests will be tailored around the response of your vehicle to these changes as the day progresses.
• Testing is finished and the car removed from the building by 5pm.

• We advise that you bring as many set-up components as you possibly can including, springs, dampers, anti-roll bars, bump rubbers and packers along with slick and wet tyres.
• You will be required to bring any tools or equipment necessary to perform set-up changes including tyre warmers, generators, compressors, gas bottles, jacks and wheel guns.
• Multimatic will not provide any tools or equipment other than those necessary to instrument and connect the vehicle to the test rig and its data acquisition system.

• You will need to bring the appropriate number of personnel required to perform the necessary set-up changes in a timely manner and any personnel that will be involved with the set-up from the car. This usually consists of two mechanics and any race/ data engineers.
• All personnel attending the test will be required to sign in at reception on arrival before they enter the rig test area where any camera enabled devices will be required to have security stickers placed over the lenses to prevent images being taken of the building and the work conducted in it. This includes any business and personal devices.

The most common tests include:

• Kinematic Tests: Bounce, Bounce with Pitch, Roll, Steering.
• Compliance Tests: Longitudinal, Lateral (in phase, anti-phase), Aligning Torque (in phase, anti-phase).

To perform accurate castor measurements and apply longitudinal loads the brakes must be securely locked. Ideally this is performed using a dummy disk and calliper bolted together to provide a mechanical lock. Alternatively, the vehicles brakes can be used with a mechanical stop applied to the pedal.

For automotive vehicles with sills, the vehicle is attached to the centre table using sill clamps. If not, a custom interfacing plate will be required, for example for monocoque racecars. Our engineers will be able to advise on the design of this.

For fixed automotive steering wheels, we have an adaptor which attaches directly to the wheel for mounting the steering motor. For motorsport quick release wheels, we have an alternative adaptor which mounts the steering motor directly to the quick release. Note that the quick release must be supplied by the customer.

Yes, the vehicle must be fitted with damper pots for the motion ratio, or pushrod load cells for the pushrod ratio. This instrumentation must be connected to our MoTeC logger and processed post-test.

• We advise that you bring as many set-up components as you possibly can including geometry options, springs, dampers, anti-roll bars, bump rubbers and packers along with slick and wet tyres.
• You will be required to bring any tools or equipment necessary to perform set-up changes including generators, compressors, gas bottles, jacks and wheel guns.
• Multimatic will not provide any tools or equipment other than those necessary to instrument and connect the vehicle to the test rig and its data acquisition system.

• You will need to bring the appropriate number of personnel required to perform the necessary set-up changes in a timely manner and any personnel that will be involved with the set-up from the car. This usually consists of two mechanics and any race/ data engineers.
• All personnel attending the test will be required to sign in at reception on arrival before they enter the rig test area where any camera enabled devices will be required to have security stickers placed over the lenses to prevent images being taken of the building and the work conducted in it. This includes any business and personal devices.

We will supply a excel sheet with all the relevant data required.

If the requirement for the data is in another format other than MoTeC, we will need to be made aware during the booking process, as special arrangements would need to be made.

Yes, this is streamed over the network, but will require MoTeC i2 to view.

• Six Total.
• Three Direct (X, Y and Yaw).
• Three Coupled (Roll, Pitch, Heave).

• We do have a selection of generic vehicle graphics models available to choose from.
• If you have access to full vehicle CAD then a graphics model can be created. Please contact us directly regarding this.

Yes, we can run our simulator in two different configurations. This can either be using a virtual reality headset or using our mounted projectors.

• Yes, you would need match our Krontec quick connect.
• Further details on request.
• CAN Communication will be required.

Please contact us regarding specification.

Depends on time available before session and required changes.

We can provide a customer front end interface, that will allow customer vehicle set up creation.

Yes, please discuss this with us directly before making your booking.

Yes, please let us know what vehicle you are looking to replicate.

Yes, Multimatic engineers are on hand to help and guide on vehicle setup and driver/ circuit training.

Yes, however please contact us with this request, before making your booking.

• Vi-Grade Drivesim.
• Vi-Grade Graphsim.
• Vi-Grade Car Realtime.

• Yes, we can facilitate more than one driver in a one-day session.
• Time will need to be taken to adjust the pedals to suit the drivers’ requirements.

• We can set up a Teams meeting that will include a livestream of the telemetry data, on board graphics, drivers microphone and the control Room microphone.
• Personnel who attend remotely will be able to have two-way communication with both the driver and the control room.
• The control room has full audio control on who can talk and listen at any point.